This deepwater, demersal species inhabits tropical and sub-tropical waters (Allen 1985). It schools in areas of hard, rocky and uneven sea floor near steep drop-offs (Parrish 1987). It consumes fishes, shrimps, crabs, lobsters, stomatopods, squids, gastropods and urochordates (Allen 1985). Its maximum total length is 90 cm (Anderson 1986). The maximum age is about 18.2 years, the age at maturity is 3.2 years, the reproductive lifespan is estimated at 15 years, and the natural mortality is 0.35 (Martinez-Andrade 2003). The maximum age from Australia is 30 years at 81 cm total length and age at 50% maturity is 8 years at 55 cm total length (Flood et al. 2014). When applying an age at first reproduction of 8 years and longevity of 30 years, its estimated generation length is 19 years based on the following equation recommended by the IUCN Red List methods: Age at first reproduction + (Age at last reproduction -“ age at first reproduction)/2.